2nd Company blues

The Ultramarines 2nd Company have been a bit of a challenge for me as I have been trying to match the types of armour and armaments used in the Space Marine Codex's depiction of the 2nd Company.

The first part of this was a substantial order of Forge World items. I literally went through counting legs and built from that. The Forge World parts are really nice, detailed and add a lot of variety, but in retrospect I wish I had not chosen the legion assault packs, as although I got some of the really cool jump packs with turbines and great close combat weapons I also ended up with running legs and torsos that have the harnesses modelled on.

I find that the Forge World resin is tricky to work with and that really slowed down the rate at which I have been putting together marines. I am using some high strength super glue Zap-a-Gap and it is the best I have found so far for what I am doing but needs to be handled with care and the parts need washing, there are no short-cuts working with it.

It also takes a fair bit of time deciding what parts to use and where I can and should make compromises. For example, while all of the special weapons are right, they are not necessarily the right variant. I am using Godwyn pattern bolters as I did not want to push up the cost even more with the bolter packs.

At this point I am about half way through assembling the company and it is one of the ones I am really looking forward to painting.

Working like a grot

Just a quick snap of my work area. I have just finished assembling 8th company and am grabbing a break before I finish 1st and 10th

Links with Lincoln

My local Games Workshop only had one box of scout bikes in stock, typically I needed two and lack of planning meant that I had no time to order them through club, but it just so happened that I was off to Lincoln...

Lincoln is a  great looking town in places but a little bit up and down when you are on foot. We only only had an hour from when we parked due to other commitments and the store happened to be 30min walk away, so it was time to pick the pace up. Downhill from the car park it was not too bad to get to the Lincoln store, who where in the middle of a re-shuffle, but had the scouts  that I needed. 

Their gaming boards are really nice and if you happen to be in the area I recommend that you stick your head in and say hello.

Then Scout Bikes and a Command Squad  in hand it was a mad scramble back up the hill to avoid a parking fine, then back across the bridge to Hull for some more cutting and sticking.

All nighter

So the shear volume of Marines I have to put together have been taking their toll. After 3 days of clipping and sticking I have had a day of family time, but it wasn't too long before I found myself back at my desk working away as I try to pull together units for airbrushing tomorrow (or is that now today?). I was just going to sort a couple of bits... Well now it is after 3 in the morning. 9th Company is finished to my satisfaction and 8th is much further on than I thought it was. So with three days to go it looks like I only have about 100 Marines to finish!

I just need to be sure about the parts I need for the 2nd before I do any more with that and I need 1 more command squad for the 1st although I mainly need it for the banner.

Hobby Holiday

I am taking a hobby holiday from work, culminating in the battle of Mcragge and a celebration of the Nid's new codex, where I will be fielding no less than 18,000 points of Ultramarines and probably a few more, so expect a flurry of posts over the next few days while I throw together roughly 600 miniatures and try and get them looking good for the tabletop.
We march for Mcragge!

Venerable Dread

So I have had hands on a Venerable dreadnaught kit for the first time. There are only two frames in the box but there was a lot of detail on them, with three head choices and a number of different options for sarcophagi.

There are two variants of power fist, Storm Bolter and Flamer as you would expect and 3 main weapon options including a Plasma cannon, Lascannon and the stalwart assault cannon.

I opted for Gothic arches on as many surfaces as I could. I may regret that later when I come to fill in the painted detail, but I think it will look great. I have left the sarcophagus detached to make painting easier. Here it is under-coated and ready for base painting. Another Venerable I bought assembled is in the background.

Battle for Mcragge

On the 25th of Jan to celebrate the release of the new Tyranid codex Hulls Angels are having a 40k game of 40k. I am providing 20k of Space Marines who will be duly butchered as they hunker down in trenches and try to repel the gribbley invaders. This epic undertaking requires that I complete 5 companies of Marines in just 2 weeks. I am finishing the 1st, 8th, 9th and 10th and building the 7th from scratch. It might not all be painted, but I am looking forward to some time off work and this epic undertaking.